Furniture construction



Oct. 2, 1928. 1,686,116

E. EL ASH v FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed 001;. 30, 1925 INVENTOR Y 81min A TORNEY Patented Oct. 2, 19 28.

E MERE. ASHQOF LOS enemas, oAnrronniA. H r

rormrrurtn CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed October 30, 1925-. 3 Serial No 65,755. i r

1 Articles of furniture, such as desks and the like, which are provided with sliding drawers, are usually constructed with guide ways or runners for the drawers which ways because of their construction are necessarily ofconsiderable cross-sectional area, and

therefore space the drawers apart permittingdust, dirt and vermin toget in. Fur- :ing, thus reducing the weight'and manufacture of the structure.

ment for the guides; necessary to tie the corner posts together and ther, it is necessary to provide drawer division rails between. the. drawers at their front ends to close this space and end panel rails are necessary opposite each guideway toforma firm support and place of attach- These rails are also form arigid framing for the support of the drawers and to carry the wood panels.

It is an' object of the present invention to reduce the cost of'manufacture and weight of the structure by the elimination of framing members, at the same time providing a construction which .is very strong and rigid,

.byco'mbining wood and metal members in a manner to give such added strength and to havetheappearance of the usual all-wood construction. .A'further object is to provide .metal guide-ways for the drawers so vconstructed asto take up but 'little'space and thus permit each drawer to form a closure for the drawer below, said guide-ways also being of a form to give strength and rigidity to the framing suflicient to permit of the dispensing with the use of parts of the fram cost 0 With the above and other ends in view,

the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forthand more particularly pointed out in the appended claim, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l-flis la vertical section upon the line 1-1 of Fig. 2 of a desk illustrative of an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of an end portion of the desk shown'in Fig. 1; p

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail illustrative of the construction and showing portions of a corner post, panel rails, end panels, metal drawer guides, and wood top, and the manner in which the same are assembled; and

Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of a combined wood and metal drawer.

For the purpose of illustration, the in vention is shown as embodied ina desk construction but it is to be understood that the same may beembodied as-well in other 7 articles of furnitureembodying drawers.

' In the drawing, 1' indicates cornerposts of a frame work, 2 end panelbot-tom rails,

3 a front division rail, and 4 a're ar 'connect- '"f ingrail, said rails being mjortised into said posts-to rigidly connect the same below the horizontal plane of 'thebottom of the lower of-the 'several drawer 5 supported in this frame. The upper ends 'of' the posts-are.

rigidly connected by a table top 6 secured thereto in any suitable manner not shown, or by any othersuitable meansto form a rec tangular frame for the support of the several drawers 5 which drawers may -be=constructed in any suitable manner,vbut' referably with afront end .5 of wood,-whic h drawer-ends,

when the several drawers are in place and,

closed, together "fOIIIl a front closure for the space. between thefront corner posts 1 the. top 2 and the front rail-'3 of the pedestal V or drawer compartment of the desks I .Theseveral drawers are supported and guided upon bearers orguides-7 each preferably formed from sheet metal, the sheet-of metal being bent longitudinally along central 'parallel line's with the central portion of the sheet folded upouitself toforml-a longitudinal laterally projecting-rib 8'with flanges 9' extending upwardly and downwardlyfrom the-base of said rib, the member thus formed being' of T-formationfin cross section. Two of these guide-members are provided for each-drawer, the members of each pair being-secured at their ends 'by' means of screws I 1O -01" other suitablemeans,

to the "innerface of the front corner posts at one end and tothe rear corne'rposts' at their-rear ends with the flanges ofeach member 'extending vertically and letjinto. the i ==inner .faces of the :posts to :lie zfiush' therewith and with the rib 8 extending inwardly in a horizontal position, forming a ledge tov engage beneath the bottom of the drawer supported thereby with the upper flange of the guide engaging the outer surface of the drawer side wall and-guiding the drawer.

in its movement. The downwardly extending flange of each member; is adapted to engage the outer surface of the side wall of a drawer below, the upper edge of said side wall of the lower drawer sliding freely justbeneath the rib. The superposed drawers are therefore spaced apart the thickness of the rib only, so that when the drawers are closed, each formsa cover or closure for of this close spacing of the drawers, the

usual front division rails between the .front ends of. the drawers may be dispensed 'with and said ends formed to meet and completely close this small space between vthem, thus-saving material-and labor in constructing the framing.

These guidemembers 7, because of their T-Tform are very strong and rigid, and therefore provide a rigid connection between the front and rear corner posts, ,so that the usual end panel rails towhich the drawer guidesare usually secured, may be dispensed with; further ,cheapening the construction and decreasingits weight, these guide members being very light in weight due to their formation from sheet metal, and further,

the 'form'jofeach guide'is such that its rib :not-only forms a support upon which the drawer slides, but also a members to engage the upperedge of the drawer below, to ,prevent the drawers from tilting downwardly when drawn out, and'the. flanges 9 guidethe :drawers laterally, so that the drawers are accurately guided and prevented from binding. in their :ways, thus insuring free sliding movement. I; i l

. i In the drawing, bottom panel rails 2 are shown, but such rails may be dispensed withif-found desirable or'made a part of the end panelsll, as the front and rear cor ner posts are rigidly tiedvtogether 'by' the guide members 7, and where the desk is provided with a slide '12, as shown; the guide members which are provided :to engage the 1 upper edge's'of the vsidewalls of the upper v drawer,- may also .form'guides for this. slide,

and; these Tinembers'th'en serve to=tie the, front andhrea'r cornerpoststogether adjacent the ,table top 6', lending furtherrigidity to the structurewithout .materiall lessening the available-drawer space wit inthe frame.

. The guide members for the "lowerdrawer of the series, are secured attheir ends not only so,

to thefron't and rear posts, but also, to the .frontdivision a rail 3 and'rear connecting rail 4 by securing the ends of the ribs 8 of these members to these rails by thescrews 10. These guide members thus serve'as corner irons to strengthen and brace the meeting angle of said railsv and posts.

By employing't'hese sheet metal drawer guides which also serve as frame members and employing wood corner posts and wood panels which completely conceal these metal guides, an article of furniture may be constructed which has the appearance of the usual wood construction but is lighter-in weight and cheaper to construct, is, very strong and rigid, and in which thefdrawers are accuratelygguided to slide freely, thesenictal guides not being, subject toamaterial expansion or contraction due to weather-conditions 1' which would cause the drawers to stick or :bindtherein; f r

' 7 Having thus fully described my invention, 1 what I claim 'is: 1

Inv an article offurniture formedlof metal and woodand having a; supporting frame formed of wood includingewooden posts: and wooden front'cross. rail, .a series oi'a-supen: posed drawers I between" said posts,1s;each

drawer having a sheet -metal-body and a front end formed of wood with the wooden 'end overlapping the endedgesof the-body, 7

superposed drawers with the upper drawer resting upon'said rib and the upper edge of :the drawer below engaging theunderside of, said rib, said drawers being spaced apart the thicknessof said rib only, andeach guidev 'formed: with a flange extending upwardly from saidriband a flange extending down-n wardly therefrom, said flanges being secured at theirends to theinner sides of said posts, certain of-Vsaid guides being secured within the meeting angle between said posts-and front rail of said woodens-vframe*withfla flange of each guide secured'to' 1a. post' and an end portion of'said -rib'secured to said rai'l, whereby said metal guides form ar'bracing for said wood' frame.

r V 1 In testimonywhereof I afiix my signature E MEB- S -i. a, 

